Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The "Apple-Cycle" and Our Fast-Paced World

I am a proud owner of an iPad 1.

I know, it is crazy, isn't it?

I can still remember being so excited having the first iPad, using all the applications and stuffs, playing with it until midnight, and making everyone jealous about it.

Until the iPad 2 came along.

Suddenly there was this madness of grabbing this new gadget, and people instantly forget the first iPad. Not only the new camera or the new iOs or the thinner look of the iPad 2 that created the excitement, it is simply an excitement of a newly developed something coming. People begin to forget the iPad 1. Even in the stores, it was really hard for me to find a new case for my iPad, it seems like everything having to do with the 'old' iPad vanish in an instant. And it is getting worse when the new iPad came along.

And then it occurs to me...what kind of world are we living in?
*I am indeed over-dramatizing everything

I can only imagine being an Apple fan. Being so excited about a gadget, testing all of its features, only to know that when the new one comes along, it is another excitement, another waiting in progress. I am not being cynical, I also like Apple products, but this really fast cycle of waiting and upcoming excitement also takes away my joy and excitement of having the one that I am holding, that actually still functions perfectly. We are so excited about the future that sometimes we lack of gratitude of what we actually have. We are always promised of the new model, new technology, new camera, new operating systems, new stuffs.

It is great to be excited over and over again, but I think we are now living in a world where HAPPINESS has shorter span. The duration of excitement grows smaller. This "Apple phenomenon" is only a great example of what we are facing on daily basis; the time is ticking fast, the world is changing fast, and somehow we are moving real fast. We have newer sets of goals, we are expected to have new innovations.

My iPad is still functioning. Greatly. It still does all the things I bought it for, but now I have to see iPad 2, new iPad, iPad mini, and so on. Barry Scwharz, a researcher who speaks on TED about The Paradox of Choice said that having more choices does not make us happier. It tends to give us higher expectancy of things, because of all these choices, one of them must be perfect. When it is not perfect, we then tend to blame ourselves, why can't I afford the new one, why did I think that way, why did I choose this, why...

Just stop this madness!

You know, I really, really miss the days of Nokia 3310. When we are all excited to play one game; Snakes. When everybody in the classroom talks about their highest score. It is not only the gadget that I miss, but our gratitude toward what we have and the tendency to maintain something more than just months. The urge to REPAIR the old one instead of to BUY a new one. The willingness to hold on. The gratitude of having anything at all.

I know, I am over-dramatizing things. But can you imagine if we are doing the "Apple-cycle" in all aspects of our lives? What if we are doing the cycle for friends or partners? What if we keep looking for the new better upcoming ones? We are so hungry of change, we want it fast, we so want to have better ones...that sometimes we forget that what we have is ENOUGH. Maybe 5 or 10 years from now, it won't be enough anymore. But not months. Not days.

I struggle with gratitude EVERYDAY. But my message (which is also a note-to-self) is just; stop. Look at what you have and be grateful, do not let the wave of other's excitement takes away your own, give more credit to what you are doing and what you are having, because no matter how much excitement the future would bring, it is not present. Give more time to happiness, let it stay longer, do not let the moment slips away because we are too busy waiting for something bigger and (maybe) better.

Oh, by the way, I am still a proud owner of Apple's iPad 1, and also a proud owner of Nokia's Lumia.
One reminds me that the world is constantly changing, and better things are coming fast.
Another reminds me that some things last longer, and to be grateful that they do. :)

link to Barry Schwarz's talk (TED) "Paradox of Choice" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM

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